Microgaming is a very popular casino platform provider used by many of the available online casinos. If you are playing Blackjack at one of the Microgaming-supported online casinos, you will see two different sets of rules used on different Blackjack games. Understanding these rules can be done easily, but the impact is quite significant depending on your playing style. Based on Vegas’s Blackjack rules, Microgaming Blackjack offers Downtown rules and Strip rules.

The Vegas Downtown rules are pretty simple. Blackjack is played with two decks, so the house advantage is relatively low. However, dealer must hit on soft 17, so be sure to adjust your playing strategy accordingly. You are allowed to double-down on any starting hand — in opposite to only 9, 10, and/or 11 also quite common in other Blackjack tables. In terms of splitting, you can re-split or double-down on split cards. This rule combination brings the house advantage to 0.40%.

The Vegas Strip rules are a bit more thorough. Although there are four decks used, dealer must stand on soft 17; simply use the basic strategy for four-deck tables and you’ll do just fine. You can also double-down on any starting cards. Re-split is allowed once, and you can double-down on split cards. The house advantage is slightly lower, a cool 0.36%.

Both tables can be highly profitable depending on how you play the game. Remember that cards are shuffled after each round, so you need to properly approach each round separately. By understanding these rules, you can be a lot more profitable playing online Blackjack at Microgaming casinos.